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# Essay on Techniques and Requisites

#### by Andrew P Smith

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

An Essay on Techniques and Requisites
- by Helena Vitalis, filia Felix Necronimus, scholae Bonisagi, scribed as part of a Submission for a Wizard's Gauntlet

"While the division of Hermetic Magic into the Five Techniques was, of course, a masterstroke on the behalf of Bonisagus, it is clear that these Techniques do not form a seamless partition of the endless myriad of different Effects that our Gift is capable of. One only needs to examine any of the fascinating traditions of our non-Hermetic brothers for evidence of this fact. The observation that many of the Spells commonly-known to the Order contain Requisites is yet further proof. This is not intended as a criticism of the system of Five Techniques - although imperfect, this categorization is beautiful in its simplicity.

"The problem of course, is that each of the Techniques is based in language upon one of our verbs; to create, to perceive, to mutate, to destroy and to control, but in our tongue we have a far wider range of verbs available to us. Some of these associate only loosely with our Techniques, and some have no apparent connection at all. So to fit into our system of Magic, we have to create an artificial association; for instance, we choose to associate translocation with control, communication with perception, aging with perdition.

"This linguistic framework of the Techniques also presents us with ambiguities in so far as it possible to formulate an Effect in a number of different ways, each associating with a different Technique. For example, one could consider a Spell to freeze water as Muto Aquam (changing the form of the water) or as Perdo Ignem (removing the warmth which sustains the water in liquid form). Each approach is possible.

"Given this background of confusion, I believe it may be helpful to formulate a more abstract description of the Techniques, wherein the scope of each is more clearly defined. In the broadest sense, all magic deals with entities, be they concrete (such as a rock) or abstract (such as a thought). Let us consider the abstract World of all such entities and try to impose some order upon it. Time is the most obvious of the variables - each entity can be considered to have a lifetime, be it fleeting or everlasting. Time, then, is the first direction of our World. To elaborate further, we must consider what it means for two entities to be alike. One may hold a silver schilling each hand - each coin is identical apart from its location. Or, one may take a silver coin out of one's hand and replace it with a golden one. Now the location is the same, but the "form" of the entity is different.

"Now we may consider an action upon an entity as a movement in one of three directions in the World of all possible entities. To tarnish our coin, we project the entity forward in the time direction. To relocate it, we move in the spatial direction, and to mutate it we move in the form direction. Now let us consider the path of an individual entity as it traverses through time in our abstract World. At one far end of the World, we have the Realm of Forms, where entities are instantiated into the World in any place with beginning time. At the opposite end, we have a Void, for want of a better word, where entities meet their end. An entity's lifetime therefore consists of a journey from the Realm of Forms to the Void, although the path taken may be obscure. For instance, the lifetime of a tree may have an oscillatory motion; swinging close to the Void in winter, before swinging back towards the Realm of Forms in spring and summer. Each winter, it comes closer and closer to the Void, before eventually succumbing. In fact, it may be that the Void and the Realm of Forms are one and the same place; for as a tree dies, so is born a new entity - a lump of dead wood which eventually decays. Or this death may be considered merely a milestone in the tree's "lifetime", it matters not. Note then that the primary direction is not actually time as we know it, rather a closeness of association with the Realm of Forms or the Void.

"As for the other "sideways" directions of our World, our tree moves little. It does not change position, save perhaps for a little swaying in the wind. The change in form is small, except for gradual growth and the forming of flowers or leaves. Contrast this path with that of a human. His path in the primary direction is slow but steady as he grows from an infant to a child to a man, and then dies. He mutates little, but with his freedom of movement his path may vary wildly in the position direction.

"Having elaborated our abstract World, how, then, does this fit in with our system of Hermetic magic? Firstly, let us note that the natural path of an entity is a smooth one, and that a Spell may suddenly interrupt or redirect that path. The Magnitude of the Spell determines how far or how fast the entity may be moved. For instance a minor Spell may wrinkle one's skin, but it takes a Spell of higher Magnitude to actually kill a person.

"The Technique of Creo relates to the movement of an entity in the primary direction of our World, towards the Realm of Forms, and also deals with instantiation of entities from the Realm of Forms. Entities can be brought forth anywhere in this World that is adjacent to the Realm of Forms. This Technique can also prevent entities moving closer to the Void, for instance Charm against Putrefaction prevents a body from decaying.

"In contrast, the Technique of Perdo deals with movement in the opposite direction, so that the entity moves closer (or even into) the Void. Since they deal with the same direction, the direction of primary import, they are the two Techniques most closely related under this model, although they are opposite in effect.

"The technique of Muto then deals with any movement of an entity in the form direction; transformation to a similar entity (one which is close by in the World) is easy, but transformation to a dissimilar entity (far away) is hard.

"Clearly, the Technique of Rego deals with movement of an entity in the final direction, to change an object's position or orientation in the material (or abstract) world. It seems to be a quirk of Hermetic magic that the Technique of Control is also the most appropriate for preventing movement of an entity in any direction.

"Where does this leave the final Technique, Intellego? Well, this appears to be the most aloof of the five, in that it does not move an entity within our World at all. It merely allows the caster to perceive the location of an entity, and by means of comparison with nearby entities, to determine its properties.

"Maybe this view of the Five Techniques grants us greater insight into their scope, and upon the limits of Hermetic magic. For instance, an Effect which moves an entity in parallel with one of the directions is well-suited to Hermetic Magic, but one which corresponds to some diagonal movement is not. This diagonal movement is the basis for the need for Requisites. For instance, a Spell which changes a flowering peach tree into a leafless oak, is moving an entity not only in the form direction, but also closer towards the Void. Thus it is a Muto Spell with a Perdo Requisite.

"How, then, do the Ten Forms relate to this abstract model? Perhaps our World is composed of a series of interwoven strands, of variable hue, which represent them. If we were to look at it Hermetically, one might see ten discrete bands of colour, one for each Form, although this is but a simplification of the infinitely variable spectrum of colours that are present. Thus our magic deals well with the path of an entity while its hue remains in the same broad category, but to cross colours is to introduce Requisites. Thus to mutate a man to a beast we must cross the boundary between dark red and brown.

"I believe it is possible to incorporate existing magical theories into the model which I have proposed. The Law of Similarity holds because two similar entities are close together with respect to the form direction. The Law of Contagion holds because one can trace the path of two entities that once were one back to where they join. Why do we research our longevity potions with Intellego and Corpus? The answer is because we must perceive the path of our own entity in the World to be able to affect its future direction with subtlety required to prolong our lives."